


The Villain Always Loses

by blue_suited_blowhard



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-18 07:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9373877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_suited_blowhard/pseuds/blue_suited_blowhard
Summary: Things turn upside-down in Lazytown when one of Robbie's schemes actually succeeds, but not exactly how he planned...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from season 2 episode "Once Upon a Time." Sportacus can't pronounce the V and I love it.
> 
> Updates daily!

Robbie Rotten was tired. He was tired of always failing. Every time he came up with another brilliant scheme to get the kids to stop playing or to get Sportacus to leave forever, he was always beaten. He felt like all he did was pointless. He didn’t know why he even bothered. He sat in his fuzzy orange chair and sighed. He settled in and decided to never move from this chair again. He closed his eyes, and drifted into a nap. 

Then he was violently awoken by the sounds of screaming children. 

“UGH!” Robbie groaned as he sprang up from his chair in frustration. “THOSE DAMN KIDS!” Now he remembered. He trudged up to the platform to look through the periscope to see what horrible thing they were up to now, and how he could stop it. 

It was the pink girl and the smaller girl with the pigtails. They were running around playing some kind of game. Robbie didn’t care enough to take the time to figure out what the game was. 

Then Sportacus flipped into the scene. “Hi guys! How’s it going?”

“Hi Sportacus!” Stephanie said happily. 

Robbie groaned. Sportanerd. Of course. 

“We were just talking about you!” Trixie said

“Oh really?”

“Yeah! We were trying to guess how high you can jump. I think you could jump at high as that branch on that tree!” Trixie pointed to the big sportscandy tree in the middle of the courtyard.

“Well I think he can jump as high as the top of the tree!”

Sportacus laughed. “Well why don’t we see who is right?” He smiled and backed up for a running start, then did several simple backflips before launching himself several meters into the air. He landed on his feet and turned to the girls, waiting for a response. 

“I don’t think he made it as high as the top of the tree. I won, pinky," Trixie smirked. 

Stephanie couldn’t exactly argue with her. She saw it too, he didn’t go that high. 

“I guess. But I bet he could make it that high!”

Sportacus laughed and did some more backflips to distract them from their disagreement. 

Robbie scowled into his periscope. “Sportakook. Always so positive and happy and… active. If he wasn’t flipping around all the time I’d be able to get some damn shut-eye once in a while. If I could get him to stop being so active… even just for a little while. I’m so tired. I just want some peace and quiet…” 

He huffed and went back to sit in his orange chair. He stewed in his own bitter thoughts. Until…. he had an idea. 

“It’s perfect!” Robbie cried. “Sportafloppy will flip high into the air, and I’ll shoot something heavy towards him. It won’t hit him, he’s too fast and my accuracy isn’t that good. BUT, at the very least it will throw off his concentration and he’ll fall, possibly injuring himself or his ego, then he’ll stop saving people! At least for a little while so I can rest. It’s the perfect plan!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robbie executes his plan and has to deal with the consequences.

Sportacus jumped up onto one of the shorter yellow walls and got a running start before flipping off it.

“Come on, I bet you can go higher than that!” Trixie egged him on.

Sportacus accepted the challenge and stepped onto a bench in order to climb up onto the high yellow wall. Stephanie and Trixie watched in awe as Sportacus flipped off it and did a few turns in midair. But just as he was upside down in the middle of his fourth spin, he felt something hit his leg, and heard a crack. The pain erupted through his body like an electric current. He lost his concentration and fell to the ground. 

Stephanie and Trixie gasped and rushed to his side. “Sportacus!”

Sport grimaced and groaned and writhed on the ground in pain. 

“Sportacus! What should we do?!” Stephanie cried. 

“Get the Mayor! Or Robbie! Get anyone!” 

Stephanie gave a quick nod and rushed off in the direction of her uncle’s house. Trixie stayed behind with Sportacus. 

\--

Robbie was a few blocks away, having fired the cannon from the roof of a building. Witnessing his perfect shot and seeing Sportacus fall in midair was a great feeling. He had finally succeeded. Sportacus wouldn’t be able to sport anymore. Robbie laughed and brushed the dust off his shoulders. 

“Well,” he said to himself. “Better go and see how upset the children are!” 

He slunk around Lazytown, through the reddish concrete streets and behind the yellow walls, making sure nobody saw him. He finally got to a wall with a big hole that he could peer through. 

He saw Sportacus on the ground and his face sunk. He was in so much pain. His face was red and sweaty, he was groaning and had tears leaking from his eyes. Robbie hadn’t thought about this part of his plan. Why hadn’t he thought of this. He felt awful. He couldn’t believe himself. 

Without another thought he sprang through the hole in the wall and rushed to Sportacus’ aid. 

“Robbie Rotten!” Trixie said accusatorily. She put her fists on her hips and scowled. “We should’ve known it was you!” 

“Out of my way, Pigtails!” Robbie said. He pushed the girl out of the way and scooped Sportacus up like a child. He was small but heavy. Sportacus yelled in pain and clutched Robbie’s shoulder to keep himself up. 

Robbie ran Sportacus back to his lair, panicking a little more every time Sportacus winced. 

“Robbie…” Sportacus started to say. 

“Shut up, Sportaloon.”

Robbie couldn’t think. He didn’t want to have to deal with the fact that this was his fault. He didn’t want Sportacus to get seriously hurt. Or did he? Maybe he thought he did. 

Robbie slung Sportacus over his shoulder in order to climb down the ladder to his lair. 

Sportacus was almost losing consciousness from the pain. His injured leg had been moved so many times since it was first hit. His moans became weaker and his eyelids became heavier. He tried to talk to Robbie but his words were just mumbles. 

Robbie got down to his lair and gently laid Sportacus on a table that emerged from the floor. 

“Sport? You alright? You still with me?” Robbie said. He gently slapped the sides of Sportacus’ face. His eyes fluttered open and he made eye contact with Robbie. “Oh good, you’re awake.”

“Robbie? Why are you…”

“Nevermind that, just do me a favor and stay awake,” Robbie said as he went all over his lair gathering materials. He whipped out a remote and pressed a button, triggering an odd blue machine to erupt from the floor and turn itself so it hung above Sportacus’ injured leg. 

“What is…” Sportacus muttered. 

“Don’t move,” Robbie said as a pair of dark goggles dropped onto the bridge of his nose. He pressed another button on the remote and a bright light emitted from the machine. It immediately spat out a piece of plastic with an x-ray of Sportacus’ injured leg. Robbie took it and held it up to a light. It was pretty bad. Sportacus’ fibula was completely shattered in the middle, and his tibia had a massive fracture. 

“Well? How bad is it?” Sportacus croaked. 

“It’s… not good.”

“So… what does that mean?”

Robbie sighed frustratedly. “It means you aren’t going to be doing a lot of moving for a while.”

Sport’s face sunk. “What? At all?”

Robbie didn’t have time for this. “Maybe. Just shut up a minute so I can set this.”

Sportacus smirked a bit and let his head fall back onto the table. He stared up at the ceiling of Robbie’s lair. It was surprisingly far away. The pain in his leg had not ceased, but had become a numbing ache. He started to feel a bit dizzy from it. 

Meanwhile Robbie searched around his lair for various materials that he could use to set Sportacus’ leg into place and keep it there. He had to improvise with most of it. 

It only took a sharp groan from Sportacus to remind Robbie that he was still in pain. He figured he should give him something for it, but he didn’t know what… he turned his head and saw on a cluttered workbench, the machine that turns sugar into fake apples. He took it and had it spit out an apple. 

“Here, eat this,” Robbie said as he tossed Sportacus the apple. 

“But… I don’t need energy right now… you said I wouldn’t be allowed to move…?”

“Just eat it!”

Sport did as he was told, and took a bite out of the apple. He looked at the inside and only caught a glimpse of the oozing gunk before he lost consciousness. 

Robbie sighed and looked at the man lying helpless on the table. This was all Robbie’s fault. He felt awful. How could he want this? Why did he think it was a good idea? Why didn’t he think it through? 

He let himself fall into his orange fuzzy chair. He couldn’t take his eyes away from poor Sportaspoon, lying completely still. 

“No,” Robbie said to himself. “It won’t change anything just feeling bad about it. Sporty needs my help.” He stood up from his chair and went to work.


	3. Chapter 3

Sportacus woke up in his own bed. He had no idea how he had gotten there, or how long he had been there. He remembered being in Robbie’s lair, on a table. He remembered Robbie giving him an apple…. a sugar apple! What happened after that? He didn’t remember. 

He sat up and flipped up the white puffy blanket that was on top of him. He saw that his left pant leg had been cut off and on his leg was a distorted-looking cast wrapped in strips of white linen. It extended just above his knee, preventing him from bending it. He tried to lift it, but a burst of white hot pain erupted through his leg. He groaned and clutched at the cast. He sighed frustratedly and let himself fall back down onto the pillow. 

He stared up at the white ceiling above him. He couldn’t get up. He couldn’t move. He felt like there were restraints tying him down to the bed. He hated this. The weight of the cast suddenly seemed so great. He felt lost. He felt like he wasn’t himself anymore. 

“You can get through this, Sportacus,” he muttered to himself. “It won’t be that long. Surely the kids will be able to stay out of trouble for a while.” 

He finally decided to look around the room. He propped himself up on his elbows and saw that the side door was open. The ship was on the ground. He could see a bit of green grass and trees through the door. 

“He’s awake!” He heard a child’s voice say. He sat up again and smiled. 

Led by Stephanie, the band of lazytown kids all entered the airship and crowded around Sportacus’ bed. 

“Sportacus!” Stephanie said. “How are you feeling?”

“I feel fine!” He lied. “Everything’s going to be okay!”

“But Sportacus,” Ziggy said. “What about being a superhero? Will you still be able to save people?”

“Well,” Sportacus couldn’t lie about this. “I will soon, but not right now. You guys will just have to do something for me. Can you do that?”

“Yeah! What do we have to do?” Ziggy said, excited to be given a mission by Sportacus. He leaned forward in anticipation. 

“Stay out of trouble!” Sportacus said with a huge grin. All the kids laughed and smiled back. 

“We will, Sportacus,” they all said.

“Promise?” He looked at them as if he was about to trust them with his life.

The kids nodded solemnly. “We promise!”

Sportacus smiled and giggled. “Okay, kids. It won’t be for too long!” 

“Okay guys, we should probably go and let Sportacus rest,” Stephanie said. When she said this she caught a glimpse of disappointment in Sportacus’ eyes. She shepherded her friends out the door and hopped off the platform. They got back onto the path in the woods and headed back towards Lazytown. 

When the others weren’t paying attention, Stephanie about faced and went back to the clearing where Sportacus’ airship was parked. She climbed up onto the platform and peered in the doorway. 

“Sportacus?” She muttered. 

“Stephanie?” He said as he sat up slowly. He knew that she’d come back to see him.

She smiled and entered the airship. 

“Really, are you okay?” She said. She knelt down next to his bed. She could tell there was something wrong. He seemed to be handling the whole being immobile thing a little too well. He’s so active, she couldn’t imagine what it must be like for him to not be able to get out of bed. 

He hesitated. He understood that she just wanted to help him, but he didn’t want to burden an 8 year-old with his feelings of helplessness. She didn’t need that.   
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m really okay. I’m a little bummed out, yeah. I’d much rather be exercising right now than lying in bed, but some things you just have no choice but to get through.”

Stephanie was not particularly convinced by this response, but she didn’t want to press him. “Okay, well,” she said. “If you ever decide that you aren’t okay, I’m here to talk.”

“Thanks, Stephanie.” Sportacus smiled, admiring her maturity and supportiveness. Usually she was on the opposite end of a conversation like this. 

“And I’ll keep an eye on everyone for you. Try to keep them out of trouble.”

“I know I can trust you!” 

Stephanie smiled warmly. She hoped he wouldn’t go too crazy all cooped up in here for so long. She didn’t even know how long. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll leave so you can actually rest.” She stood up and touched his shoulder before leaving the airship. 

Sportacus could feel it when he was really alone. The white of his surroundings, for the first time, seemed blinding. Somehow the room felt foreign. He had slept in this same bed countless times, but now everything seemed different. He couldn’t explain it. He let himself fall back into a horizontal position and stared up at the ceiling. Doing nothing all day? It was never something he had ever been able to do. Even when he was told to, he was simply incapable of sitting still. But now? Now he had no choice. He felt like his identity had been stripped away. He felt like just a body. Inert and useless.


	4. Chapter 4

Robbie Rotten woke up on his own. The moment he opened his eyes and registered that he was awake, he paused. He listened. Silence!

“Ha!” He stood up and threw his hands in the air. “No loud kids!! I did it!” He smiled and congratulated himself for a job well done. Then he remembered what actually happened, and his smile faded. 

Sportacus. 

His good mood was ruined by the memory of a red faced Sportacus crying on the ground. The sound of his pained groans echoed in Robbie’s head and he couldn’t take it. 

“Stop!” He yelled to nobody. “Augh! Why is that even when I win, I lose?” 

He sat back down in his orange chair and pouted. He just wasn’t meant to win. 

He decided to distract himself. He went up to the platform and lowered the periscope. He looked around lazytown. No kids anywhere. The streets were totally empty. He smiled, and decided that he should enjoy his newfound peace and quiet by having a nice nap on a bench. 

He brought up an orange striped pillow and tossed it down onto a nice bench in the middle of town. The courtyard was empty. The sports equipment sat unused. The breeze gently flowed through the basketball net and Robbie breathed a sigh of relief at the soft sounds of the leaves in the trees being blown in the wind. 

A few meters away, Stingy was driving his little yellow car down the street. Robbie heard it, but wasn’t bothered. He was alone and not playing, nothing wrong with a kid being outside, especially is he was too lazy to walk to wherever he was going. 

Robbie opened his eyes for only a moment, but quickly regretted it. He saw there was a huge hole that he had dug several weeks ago directly in the kid’s path. He didn’t appear to be paying enough attention to notice it. 

“No!” Robbie muttered to himself. “This isn’t your problem. You have a very important nap to be taking.” He closed his eyes again, but only managed to keep them shut for a moment before opening them and watching the distance between kid and the hole grew smaller and smaller. 

At the very last second, without thinking, Robbie grabbed a manhole cover from another hole and tossed it onto the hole in front of the kid. He drove over it without even realizing and went on his merry way. 

Robbie breathed a sigh of relief. Then he realized what he had just done. He… saved someone? He felt almost disgusted with himself. He was glad that nobody saw. 

“Blech!! Saving people!!” He felt almost dirty. Saving people was not something he would ever do! 

Then why had he done it? 

He wanted to be away from this godforsaken town. Just being here was a recipe for something hideously annoying to happen. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked out of town towards the woods on the outskirts. 

The further he got from the red concrete and the yellow walls the more he felt like he was losing his edge. He used to be a great super villain. He had just succeeded in a dastardly plan! His plans were all so genius! Why did this feel so wrong? 

His gaze down at the dirt beneath his feet was suddenly overcome with a huge shadow. He looked up and his field of vision was flooded with a huge blue and red airship. 

Sportacus. 

Just what he needed to feel even worse. He stood where he was and had a staring contest with the open door and the white platform. He refused to move even though every instinct in him was telling him to go talk to Sportadork. But his pride told him that doing so would be forfeiting his role as a villain. 

But he had to. His pride lost the battle in his head and he went over to the platform. He hovered outside it for a moment, panicking about what he would say. But he only let himself think about it for a moment before he forced himself up onto the platform and in the door. 

Sportaflop was lying on his side, with his back towards the door. Robbie couldn’t see his face. He couldn’t tell if he was asleep or not. Robbie wasn’t sure what he should do. He took another couple audible steps and Sportacus stirred. He’s awake. 

Sportacus sat up and turned around to see who it was. The moment he saw Robbie he smiled.

“Robbie! Hi!”

“Hello…. Sportacus,” Robbie said uncomfortably, it taking all of his effort to use his real name. 

“I’m glad to see you!” Sportacus said.

“Me?” Robbie said. “Why?”

“I…” Sportacus hesitated. “I wanted to ask you a couple things. How long will I have to be in this thing? Will I be able to walk before it comes off? I’d love to be able to walk around lazytown and see the kids.”

Robbie realized just how maddening this must be for Sportaflip. He couldn’t move. That was his whole life, and now he was confined to a bed in an empty airship. 

“I don’t know,” Robbie said. He really didn’t know. The break had been pretty bad. If he had to guess he would say a month or more, but the thought of the disappointment in Sport’s face if he were to tell him this was too much for Robbie. “A while.” 

Sportacus sighed exasperatedly. His frustration and sadness was not difficult to see, he wore his heart on his sleeve. 

“But,” Robbie heard himself say. The instant the word left his mouth Sportacus perked up in anticipation. “I could probably rig up something so you can sort of get around.” 

Sportacus’ smile became almost too big to fit on his face. “Thank you, Robbie! That would be amazing!” He beamed at Robbie with the utmost gratefulness. He took Robbie’s hand and shook it vigorously. 

“Alright, that’s enough,” Robbie said, pulling his hand away. “I haven’t even built it yet.” 

“Thank you, Robbie,” Sportacus repeated. 

“Okay…” Robbie didn’t know what to say next. 

“I really mean it,” Sportacus went on. “It hasn’t even been one day, and I feel like I’m not myself. This just feels wrong.”

Robbie tried to ignore the voice in his head that was screaming you feel the same way! Tell him!!! 

“Yeah, I can imagine,” Robbie said instead. 

He looked at Sportacus’s sunken face. He was almost unrecognizable. Robbie had never seen him like this.

A part of Robbie told him to celebrate. This is what you have always wanted! You finally did it. You beat him! You won!

But Robbie couldn’t be happy for himself while Sportacus was so miserable. 

“I’m sorry Sportacus,” Robbie heard himself say. He knelt down next to the bed and put his forehead down on it. He couldn’t look Sportacus in the eye. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Robbie felt Sportacus touch the back of his head. “It’s okay, Robbie.”

Robbie sniffled and looked up at him. 

“I forgive you.”


	5. Chapter 5

It had been three days since Sportacus had last seen Robbie. Or anyone. Sportacus hadn’t moved from his bed in that time. He had barely eaten. His blonde hair was greasy and unkempt. He had dark circles under his eyes from not sleeping properly. The cast itched and his foot ached. His cap lay crumpled on the ground. 

He turned onto his stomach and let his hand fall over the edge. He tapped his fingers on the floor and listened to the sound. The sound was a reminder that he still existed. 

Then he heard a knock on the outside of the airship. He gasped and sat up. Was it Robbie come to free him from this hell?

“Sportacus?”

No. It was Stephanie. 

“Yes? Come in!” He called. 

The girl stepped into the room and her face immediately sunk into a look of pity.

“Sportacus? Are you alright?” 

Sportacus was about to say his usual “of course!” But before he did Stephanie interjected. 

“Please don’t lie.”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He leaned forward and broke eye contact with her. It was embarrassing, her seeing him like this. He was supposed to be a superhero! He saved other people! He wasn’t supposed to need saving. 

“No,” Sportacus said. “This just feels so wrong. It’s not supposed to be like this! I’m a superhero!” He paused. “I don’t feel like I’m myself anymore.”

Stephanie sat down on the edge of his bed. “Sportacus,” she said, smiling warmly. “You are still you, and we all love you just as much as we did before. Superhero or not.” She reached down and picked up his cap from the floor. She held it in her hands for a moment. “You are still you. And you are great, no matter what you can or can’t do.” She held out the hat for him to take. 

He finally let himself smile. He took the hat and put it on. “Thank you, Stephanie.” 

Then they both heard a metallic clanging and the groans of someone struggling with something heavy. Stephanie stood up and went over to the doorway. 

“Robbie Rotten!” She said. She turned back to Sportacus. “What’s he doing here?!” 

“He’s helping me!” Sportacus said with an even bigger smile on his face than before. 

Robbie entered the airship with a large metal contraption on wheels. He gasped when he saw Stephanie. 

“What is she doing here?” Robbie said. 

“Visiting Sportacus,” she said, her arms crossed. “What are you doing here?”

He hesitated. “I was just…” He glanced to his machines and then back to her. “I…”

Sportacus knew Robbie would never admit to helping anyone. 

“Stephanie,” Sportacus said. “Why don’t you go and tell the other kids that I’ll be over to see them later.”

“You mean you want me to bring them here to see you?”

“No,” Sportacus said with a half-giggle. “Tell them I’ll be in town later to see them.”

Stephanie was a bit confused, but she was smart enough to realize that whatever Robbie was here for wasn’t something that he would be able to do with her here. He cared too much about maintaining his image as a villain. So she left. 

Robbie watched her as she exited the airship. He peered out the door and watched her as she walked down the path a ways. When he felt that she was far enough to not come back, he turned back inside the airship and looked at Sportacus. 

He was propped up on his elbows, looking at Robbie hopefully. Just seeing him like that, helpless and waiting for Robbie to come save him, gave Robbie an odd feeling in his stomach. Pity? No… it was something else. Something that made Robbie want to go over and hug him, take care of him. 

“Robbie?” Sportacus said. “Have you brought…. the thing?” 

Robbie shook his head and was brought back to the task at hand. “Yes!” He said, trying to shake the thoughts that were now bubbling in his head, thoughts about how warm it would be to cuddle up close to Sportacus. 

Robbie went over to the machine that he had dragged into the airship. It had wheels on the bottom, and a place for a person to sit, and a long outstretched platform. He pushed it closer to Sportacus’ bed, with some difficulty. 

Sportacus studied it, not entirely sure about its practicality, but he had no other options, and if this would allow him to not be stuck in bed all day, then he was prepared to use whatever weird contraption Robbie would give him. 

“Okay,” Robbie said. “You sit in it here, and use your other leg to push off the ground like a scooter. Okay?” 

Sportacus nodded and looked to Robbie expectantly. He raised his hands, asking to be helped into it. Robbie blushed a bit, but went ahead and wrapped his arms around Sportacus’ muscular body and helped him onto the thing. 

When Sportacus was settled, Robbie took a step back. Sportacus tried to swing his uninjured leg to move, but he was too short. 

“Uh, Robbie,” he said. “I think there is a problem.”

Robbie saw him struggling and had to stop himself from laughing. 

“Okay, no,” Robbie said. “I have another idea. Hang on.” He grabbed Sportacus and put him back onto his bed, being careful to keep his injured leg horizontal. 

Robbie seemed to conjure up a toolkit and set to work on the contraption. He unscrewed bits here and there, separated parts and attached others to it. 

Sportacus watched as he worked, intrigued. He was very thankful to Robbie for doing all this for him. A part of him wondered if this was all part of some elaborate scheme to send him out of town for good. But, no. A stronger part of him told him that Robbie was doing this purely out of the goodness of his heart. He had always been a big softie, though he would never admit it. Sportacus watched him fondly. 

After a few minutes, Robbie dropped his tools back into his toolbox and stood up. “Okay, let’s try this.” The newly fashioned contraption was a lot smaller and simpler. It was essentially a large skateboard. 

Without warning, Robbie wrapped his arms around Sportacus’ torso and lifted him into the board. He strapped his legs down so he wouldn’t fall off.

“Now lean forward and push off with your hands,” Robbie instructed. 

Sportacus did so, and it worked! He pushed himself all around the empty room of the airship. He picked up speed and laughed. He was having fun! He dragged his hands to come to a stop and smiled up at Robbie, a look of sincere gratitude on his face.

“Thank you, Robbie! This is amazing!” 

Robbie turned pink and allowed himself to smile back. Sportacus was happy. He made him happy. He helped him.

Sportacus continued to wheel himself around the airship, practicing sharp turns and even lifting himself into the air. 

“This is great!” Sportacus said. “Now can we go outside? I want to show the kids!” He paused for a moment. “But first, I’m gonna need some energy. Apple!” A shiny red apple shot out of a hole in the wall. He caught it and took a hearty bite out of it. 

It was now that Robbie realized what he did. He basically undid his success. He made Sportacus able to be active again. He sighed, but knew that he couldn’t stop Sportacus now that he had given him the gift of mobility. He took a step to the side, opening up Sportacus’ path out the door. 

Sportacus pushed off the floor and zipped right out the door. Robbie stayed behind for a moment. He looked at Sportacus’ empty bed. The white blanket was crumpled and hung half-off the bed. Robbie sighed and sat down on it. He almost won. But winning didn’t feel right, so he undid his victory. And deep down, he knew that he had done the right thing. He laid down on Sportacus’ bed, and put his head on the pillow. He closed his eyes and took in Sportacus’ scent. He could smell sweat, and in it the exhaustion, the emptiness. It seemed odd, to find it coming from Sportacus.

“Robbie?” He heard Sportacus call from outside the airship. “Are you coming?”

Robbie got up and peered his head out the doorway. “Me?”

“Yes!” Sportacus said. “I want to show the kid’s the thing you made for me!”

Robbie’s face turned pink. He was still embarrassed about having done it. He was a villain, he wasn’t supposed to be helping people! 

“Uh,” Robbie stammered as he stepped off the platform. “You… g-go on without me. I have some stuff I gotta do.” 

“Are you sure? I’m sure the kids will be very thankful too!”

“Yes, I’m sure! I’m leaving now!” Robbie walked onto the path and walked right past Sportacus, who only stayed put for a brief moment. He used his hands to push himself forward, and kept up with Robbie as he walked down the path. 

“Why don’t you want to see the kids with me?” Sportacus asked him. 

Robbie avoided eye contact. “Because,” he heard himself say. “I don’t want them to know that I helped someone.” 

Sportacus giggled. “Why not? I’m sure they would be really happy! They really do like you, Robbie!”

Robbie half-snorted. “Like me? Puh.”

“No, they really do! Stephanie has asked me why you don’t like them,” Sportacus explained. “I told her that you prefer to be alone. But,” he paused. “I don’t know if that’s really true. Do you? Do you want friends? You could have friends, if you gave them a chance.”

Robbie walked a little faster, and avoided eye contact with Sportacus. He couldn’t see it, but he was sure that Sportacus was giving him a cheeky smile. 

“Please, Robbie? Please come with me?” He went a little faster, and swerved to a stop right in Robbie’s path. Robbie was forced to stop and make eye contact. Sportacus gave him a kicked puppy look. Robbie sighed. 

“Fine.”


	6. Chapter 6

As they neared the courtyard in the middle of town, Robbie’s look of uneasiness intensified. 

“Robbie, it’s just the kids,” Sportacus said. 

“But won’t they be mad at me?”

“Mad at you? For what?”

“For this!” He gestured to Sportacus. “It’s entirely my fault that you’re like this!” 

“You don’t even know if they know that! And besides, you said you didn’t mean it, and that you’re sorry. That’s good enough for me, so it should be good enough for them. Now come on!” 

They continued towards the courtyard. They spotted Robbie first. 

“Hey, it’s Robbie!” Ziggy called out. “Hi Robbie!” He waved. 

Robbie gave an awkward smile and half-heartedly waved back. He glanced down to Sportacus, who was hidden from the kids’ view behind the various yellow walls. 

Stephanie and the others halted their game of basketball. 

“Where’s Sportacus?” Stephanie asked. 

“He’s…”

“Here!” Sportacus emerged from behind a wall, close to the ground, gloved hands pushing himself forward. He wore a big smile, as if nothing was different. 

The kids were happy to see him, but weren’t sure how to react. They kept their distance. 

“It’s okay, kids,” Sportacus said. “Robbie made this for me! It’s great, look!” He pushed himself forward, wheeled around the courtyard a couple times, built up speed, swerved back and forth between obstacles, pushed off walls, and generally proved to the kids that he wasn’t much less agile on this than he normally would be. When he finally dragged his hands to come to a halt, Stephanie and the other kids gathered closer to him and smiled. 

“So, you’re doing better, then?” Stephanie asked. 

“Oh, yes,” Sportacus said. “Much better now, thanks to Robbie!” He looked to Robbie, who was still hovering by a wall at the border of the main courtyard. 

“Robbie?” Trixie said, an accusatory tone in her voice. “Wasn’t it his fault that you got hurt?”

Robbie turned pink and folded his arms. He knew this was going to happen. 

“Yes, but” Sportacus began. “I’ve talked to him about it, and he’s said he’s sorry. I forgave him.”

“But he-” Trixie said. 

“No. That’s not important now,” Sportacus said sternly. “What’s important is that he’s given me this!” He spun around on the board. 

Robbie was impressed by how quickly Sportacus took to the board. He had been on it for less than an hour, but already he was extremely skilled with maneuvering it around and zipping back and forth. 

“If it hadn’t been for Robbie,” Sportacus went on, “I would still be in my airship, unable to get out of bed!” 

The kids looked to Robbie, who wore a bashful smile. 

“You helped Sportacus?” Pixel said, wanting confirmation from the man himself. 

“Yes,” Robbie said, standing up a little straighter. “I did.”

Stephanie smiled and went over to him. “That was really nice of you, Robbie.”

Robbie let himself genuinely smile. 

“Do you wanna play basketball with us?” She asked. 

“What? Play? No,” Robbie said. “I don’t play games.” 

“It’s okay,” Sportacus said. “Robbie doesn’t have to play, but he can still hang around and watch! I’ll play with you guys!”

The kids cheered and Robbie sat on a bench. 

Ziggy held his lollipop with both hands and went over to Robbie on the bench. His feet dangled off the edge. 

“Hi, Robbie,” he said. 

“Oh, hello, cookie boy,” Robbie said. He knew Ziggy’s name, but he didn’t want him to think he did. 

“What happened to Sportacus? Was it actually your fault? Trixie says a lot of things, sometimes they aren’t true.”

Robbie hesitated. “Yeah, it was my fault. I didn’t think he would actually get hurt that bad.” He looked over to Sportacus zipping around the courtyard with the kids, having a grand old time. They barely even seemed to notice that Sportacus wasn’t on his feet. But Robbie couldn’t stop staring at Sportacus’ inert two legs. Robbie felt so bad. This was all his fault. 

“Robbie?” Ziggy said. He touched Robbie’s arm. 

Robbie sniffled. “Hm?”

“It’s okay,” Ziggy said. “Sportacus forgave you.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Robbie said. “That doesn’t undo what’s been done.”

“Well, you can’t undo what’s been done,” Ziggy said. “But you’ve made up for it by helping him! Look how happy he is! You did that for him.” 

Robbie’s thoughts continued to scream at him _He’s just a child, what does he know? You are a terrible person. You hurt Sportacus. You are nothing. Everyone here is better off without you._

Ziggy continued to sit with Robbie. He wasn’t sure he really got through to him, but he did his best to make him feel included. 

They watched the others play their game. When Stephanie scored the winning basket, Sportacus congratulated her. Then he went over to Robbie and Ziggy. 

“How are you guys doing?” He asked. He looked at Robbie expectantly. 

“Great!” Ziggy responded. He swung his feet back and forth and licked his lollipop happily. 

Sportacus giggled and put Ziggy up on his shoulders. Ziggy laughed and Sportacus zoomed around on his skateboard, giving Ziggy the ride of his life. Sportacus looked back to Robbie and he was finally smiling. 

Sportacus made another loop around the courtyard and stopped in front of Robbie’s bench. He let Ziggy down and Ziggy thanked him. 

“Okay guys,” Sportacus said. “I should go back to my airship.” The kids all groaned in disappointment. Sportacus giggled. “It's okay, I’ll come back tomorrow. Robbie, will you come with me?”

Robbie stood up and nodded.

“Okay, bye kids!” Sportacus said just before pushing off the ground and rolling away. Robbie gave the kids a brief half-hearted smile and ran after Sportacus. 

 

Their walk back towards the airship was mostly silent. Robbie avoided eye contact, but just stared at the ground in front of him. Sportacus was the first one to speak. 

“I hope you had at least a little fun today.”

“I did, actually,” Robbie said. 

Sportacus smiled. “Good! Maybe you’d like to do it again sometime? I could find a game that you could play with us!”

Robbie half-chuckled. “You don’t have to. You know me, not very active. I don’t really play games.”

“I’m sure there’s something that you’d play.”

Robbie shrugged and came to a halt. They had reached the airship. Sportacus rolled off the path and onto the grass, just below the platform of the door. He was just barely able to reach the edge of it, but he managed to get a hold of it with his fingers and pulled himself up onto the platform. Robbie was impressed, that must have taken a lot of arm strength. But then, he supposed he should have expected as much from Sportaflop. 

“Robbie! Come on!” Sportacus called from inside the airship. Robbie hopped up onto the platform and followed him inside. 

Sportacus stopped in front of his bed. “Could you help me out of this and into bed, please?”

Robbie did as he was asked. He knelt down and started undoing the straps on Sport’s legs. 

“Thank you, Robbie,” Sportacus said. “I mean it. You’ve given me a gift, and I am grateful for it.”

Robbie said nothing, but looked up at him. His eyes were sparkling with gratitude. And possibly something else. 

“I want to give you something in return,” Sportacus said. 

“No, you don’t have to” Robbie said. He looked back down to the task at hand. He tried to ignore the voice in his head telling him how much he didn’t deserve any of the kindness that Sport had shown him. The second strap was now undone, so Robbie wrapped his arms around Sportacus’ torso and managed to lift him up. 

Then he felt Sportacus plant a kiss on his cheek. Robbie was speechless. He looked at Sportacus in astonishment, turning bright red. He let Sportacus down onto his bed. 

“Will you sit with me for a moment?” Sportacus asked. 

Robbie obliged, but secretly that was exactly what he wanted to do. Sportacus let himself lie down. He exhaled deeply. He was tired. Robbie laid down next to him. Sportacus turned on his side, and Robbie turned in the same direction, and wrapped his arm around Sportacus’ front. Sportacus took his hand in his and held it close to his chest. 

They laid like that for a while. Robbie allowed himself to close his eyes. Sportacus fell asleep to the rhythm of their synchronized breathing.


	7. Chapter 7

Robbie woke up in Sportacus’ airship. The white of the room was blinding; he only managed to open his eyes a little bit. 

“Good morning,” Sportacus said gently. 

“Sportacus,” Robbie said, sleepy-voiced. Once he had come to terms with the fact that he spent the night with Sportacus, sleeping in his bed with him, Robbie allowed himself to open his eyes all the way. Sportacus was lying on his side, his head resting on his hand. He smiled at Robbie. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you all night,” Sportacus said. 

“It’s okay,” Robbie said. “I… I actually slept better last night than I have in a while.” He sat up all the way and rubbed his eyes. The airship was as empty as it always was, except for one thing, the board. It was on the ground near the bed, exactly where it had been before Robbie lifted Sportacus off of it. 

Robbie stood up and yawned. 

“How about some breakfast?” Sportacus said, as chipper and ready to move as he would be on any other day. “Apple!” He called, and a juicy red apple shot out of a hole in the wall and landed on the bed. He took a good-sized bite out of it and smiled. 

Robbie glanced at it and had to stop himself from gagging. Ugh. Sportscandy. 

“Do you want something to eat?” Sportacus said. “I have lots of different kinds of sportscandy!”

Robbie shook his head. “No. I’m uh…. I should get home.” He started to walk out the door. 

“Okay,” Sportacus said. “But before you go.”

Robbie stopped in his tracks and about-faced. 

“Can you help me onto the board?”

Robbie didn’t even bother with a response, he just went back over to Sportacus and picked him up. When Sportacus was right up close to him, he said. “Thank you, Robbie.”

Robbie felt his ears redden. 

He put Sportacus down on the board. Sportacus looked relieved. Robbie did up the straps and stood up again. 

“Okay? Do you need anything else?” Robbie heard himself say. 

“Nope,” Sportacus said, taking another bite from his apple. “I think I’m good. Thank you, Robbie!” 

Robbie smiled bashfully and turned back towards the door. 

“I’ll probably see you later!” Sportacus called out the door as Robbie was leaving. He didn’t turn back to respond, he just kept on walking. Once he got onto the path he didn’t look back. 

Sportacus pushed himself over to the door and stopped on the platform. He watched Robbie as he walked away. He wondered why he was so eager to leave. 

As Robbie put more distance between himself and the airship, an odd feeling inside him intensified. He wasn’t sure what it was. But he wanted it to stop. He couldn’t shake thoughts of Sportacus from his head. He thought about the warmth of sleeping up against him, the soft rhythm of his breathing, the firmness of his muscles. Why was he thinking so much about this? It was only one night. 

Then Robbie heard the rattle of the wheels on the dirt path. He tensed up, but wasn’t entirely sure why. 

“Robbie!” he heard that ever-familiar accented voice call out. 

He didn’t stop walking. But obviously Sportacus caught up with him. 

“Hey,” Sportacus said, maintaining a steady speed to keep up with Robbie. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“You came all the way out here just for that?” Robbie asked. 

“Well, I was also on my way to see the kids,” Sportacus said.

Robbie scoffed. 

“I wanted to ask you if you’re okay.”

Robbie almost stopped walking. He glanced down at Sportacus briefly, looking almost offended. 

“Of course I am,” Robbie barked. “Why wouldn’t I be? Why would you even ask?”

“Well, I just thought you seemed,” Sportacus tried to choose his words carefully. “A little on edge this morning. Like you were uncomfortable with the fact that you’d spent the night. Did you not want to do that? I hope that I didn’t make you do anything you didn’t want to do.”

Robbie turned his head forward to avoid looking at Sportacus’ concerned little face. He was so sincere and good-willed, Robbie almost hated him for it. 

“No, you didn’t,” Robbie said. “I…I don’t know how I feel about all this.”

“About…. You and me?”

“About… you,” Robbie said. “Being so nice to me.”

Sportacus almost laughed. “Being nice to you? What’s wrong with that?”

“You shouldn’t be! I’m the villain! I’m _your_ villain!”

“What does-”

“I’m a bad person!” Robbie stopped walking and finally turned to look at Sportacus. “I did this to you! I hurt you! Why would you want to love someone who would hurt you like this on purpose?!”

Sportacus stared at him incredulously. “You think you’re a bad person?”

Robbie huffed and turned away. “Of course I am.” He started to walk further down the path, faster this time. 

But Sportacus wouldn’t let the conversation end here. He turned and pushed himself down the path. It took very little effort to catch up with Robbie. When he finally did, Robbie kept walking, but turned his head to the side to avoid getting a glimpse of Sportacus’ concerned face. 

“Robbie!” Sportacus said. “Stop!” He swerved in front of Robbie and stopped almost in an instant, and Robbie, being stubborn, didn’t stop immediately, and ended up falling over Sportacus and doing a somersault. He ended in a sitting position with his back to Sportacus. He remained on the ground.

Sportacus saw his shoulders hunch over and his body shake a little. He was crying. 

“Robbie,” Sportacus said, not moving to face him. He just wanted him to listen for a moment. “I know you may not believe it right now, but you are a good person. You are important and worth so much. I’m glad that I know you, and I honestly wish that you would let me be your friend. I want to be your friend. And something tells me that you want that too. But I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Robbie remained hunched over with his back turned. Sportacus put his hand on his shoulder, and felt it relax under his touch. 

“I don’t feel like I deserve this,” Robbie muttered. 

Sportacus sighed and wrapped his arm around Robbie. “You do. I promise, you deserve to be loved.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for sticking with me through this whole thing! Thank you so much for all the kudos and your great comments!
> 
> I'm going back to college today and I don't have the last chapter finished, so I might be a bit late with posting it. Sorry about that, but there is an ending planned and it will be super fluffy just for you!


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